Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought I was the only mom who hates this extra crap. My 6 year old is in kindergarten and I cannot tell you already how many times she needs things like Pajama Day ( this was 3 times already), St Patrick Day- wear green ( which of course, she didn't have except 1 green T-shirt that was a little small on her, but I still put it on), Spirit Day etc. Then, all these e-mails from room parents who collect money for T-Shirts and God knows what else. I work full time, my husband works part-time, I truly don't have time for this.

Why isn’t your husband handling it?

DP. If I were to delegate this stuff to my DH, it just wouldn’t get done. He thinks it’s even more of a waste of time.

So then it doesn't happen and it's fine right?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought I was the only mom who hates this extra crap. My 6 year old is in kindergarten and I cannot tell you already how many times she needs things like Pajama Day ( this was 3 times already), St Patrick Day- wear green ( which of course, she didn't have except 1 green T-shirt that was a little small on her, but I still put it on), Spirit Day etc. Then, all these e-mails from room parents who collect money for T-Shirts and God knows what else. I work full time, my husband works part-time, I truly don't have time for this.

Why isn’t your husband handling it?

DP. If I were to delegate this stuff to my DH, it just wouldn’t get done. He thinks it’s even more of a waste of time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m confused by why you had to buy a flower? Just pick one on your way to school? There are lots of flowers blooming at the moment. For colours/themes, only make an effort with stuff that’s already in their wardrobe. Wear green can be green leaves on a shirt with a picture of a flower.

WTF you can't just pick flowers!! Not in people's property and most wildflowers are protected!

I live near a school and hope they never do this activity. Can you imagine classes worth of kids picking your flowers? Please let me know which holiday this is for so I can have someone waiting outside with the garden hose.

Yeah, some of our neighbors have flowers in their yard. I’m pretty sure they would be pissed if my kids went to their yard and started picking their flowers.

Everyone in DC lives near a public park that currently has something in bloom. If a kid asked me for a flower from my yard to take to school, I would say yes. If my kid asked my neighbors for a flower, they would say yes.

Go pick flowers in a public park? The entitlement here is astounding. Have you ever heard of the Tragedy of the Commons?

DC is in a school with uniforms so dress up days are a treat for them. The school always gives enough notice, assuming I read the emails sent in their entirety the week prior.

When we have special requests to bring things in there is usually a text from friend group that they are heading to store to get x,y,z asking if anyone need anything. This is priceless. We have been that family that forgot to bring in flowers. We have also been that family that brought in a half dozen to hand out to others who may have forgotten.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought I was the only mom who hates this extra crap. My 6 year old is in kindergarten and I cannot tell you already how many times she needs things like Pajama Day ( this was 3 times already), St Patrick Day- wear green ( which of course, she didn't have except 1 green T-shirt that was a little small on her, but I still put it on), Spirit Day etc. Then, all these e-mails from room parents who collect money for T-Shirts and God knows what else. I work full time, my husband works part-time, I truly don't have time for this.

Why isn’t your husband handling it?

I was going to say the same. You truly do have time for this. Your DH works part time. Isn't this the reason he doesn't work full time?

Anonymous wrote:I thought I was the only mom who hates this extra crap. My 6 year old is in kindergarten and I cannot tell you already how many times she needs things like Pajama Day ( this was 3 times already), St Patrick Day- wear green ( which of course, she didn't have except 1 green T-shirt that was a little small on her, but I still put it on), Spirit Day etc. Then, all these e-mails from room parents who collect money for T-Shirts and God knows what else. I work full time, my husband works part-time, I truly don't have time for this.

Why isn’t your husband handling it?

Anonymous wrote:The people who don't like this stuff are the same people who don't like baby showers, or adult birthday parties.

I hate stuff like this and like baby showers and adult birthdays. As others have said, it's the lack of adequate notice that I resent. If you want me to do something, email me about it at least a week in advance so I have time to Amazon something, and not buried in some interminable email about all the things happening this week/month. Schools need to communicate better in general and figure out how to highlight action items. Like most people, between home and work I get hundreds if not thousands of emails a day and have virtually no free time.

Anonymous wrote:Anything that you assign to the child that requires parental help is actually Homework For Mom.

+100% Agree!

I thought I was the only mom who hates this extra crap. My 6 year old is in kindergarten and I cannot tell you already how many times she needs things like Pajama Day ( this was 3 times already), St Patrick Day- wear green ( which of course, she didn't have except 1 green T-shirt that was a little small on her, but I still put it on), Spirit Day etc. Then, all these e-mails from room parents who collect money for T-Shirts and God knows what else. I work full time, my husband works part-time, I truly don't have time for this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m confused by why you had to buy a flower? Just pick one on your way to school? There are lots of flowers blooming at the moment. For colours/themes, only make an effort with stuff that’s already in their wardrobe. Wear green can be green leaves on a shirt with a picture of a flower.

WTF you can't just pick flowers!! Not in people's property and most wildflowers are protected!

I live near a school and hope they never do this activity. Can you imagine classes worth of kids picking your flowers? Please let me know which holiday this is for so I can have someone waiting outside with the garden hose.

Yeah, some of our neighbors have flowers in their yard. I’m pretty sure they would be pissed if my kids went to their yard and started picking their flowers.

Everyone in DC lives near a public park that currently has something in bloom. If a kid asked me for a flower from my yard to take to school, I would say yes. If my kid asked my neighbors for a flower, they would say yes.

It’s not ok to pick flowers from a public park. Maybe you are ok with your kids starting their inevitable criminal career early, but some of us have standards for our kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m confused by why you had to buy a flower? Just pick one on your way to school? There are lots of flowers blooming at the moment. For colours/themes, only make an effort with stuff that’s already in their wardrobe. Wear green can be green leaves on a shirt with a picture of a flower.

WTF you can't just pick flowers!! Not in people's property and most wildflowers are protected!

I live near a school and hope they never do this activity. Can you imagine classes worth of kids picking your flowers? Please let me know which holiday this is for so I can have someone waiting outside with the garden hose.

Yeah, some of our neighbors have flowers in their yard. I’m pretty sure they would be pissed if my kids went to their yard and started picking their flowers.

Everyone in DC lives near a public park that currently has something in bloom. If a kid asked me for a flower from my yard to take to school, I would say yes. If my kid asked my neighbors for a flower, they would say yes.

Anonymous wrote:The people who don't like this stuff are the same people who don't like baby showers, or adult birthday parties.

Yeah. None of these things make my kids feel bad about themselves.

Anonymous wrote:The people who don't like this stuff are the same people who don't like baby showers, or adult birthday parties.

I'm fine with someone's first baby shower or occasional birthday party.
But when well off adults want showers for every single one of their kids, or a party full of presents for every single adult birthday, it's odd. It's like they never grew up and became adults or something, and learned to buy stuff they want for themselves with their own money.

So yeah, I guess I am one of the people you are talking about. Most of the time the stuff at school is fine and can be predicted, but sometimes it's excessive.

The people who don't like this stuff are the same people who don't like baby showers, or adult birthday parties.

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes you need to learn to have a little fun in life, participate in the activities that build communities. Not everyone is going to love it, or so it, but building traditions builds community and memories. And lots of kids look forward to these things.

- grumpy non PTA mom of 3 who musters up some enthusiasm when provided a reasonable amount of notice and explanation

Don't turn your kids into lifelong debbie downers, you don't have to spend a fortune to help them at least appear to participate.

You know, my kids’ school manages to create a community without any of this stuff.
They celebrate when someone in the school has a new baby in the family and have moments of silence whenever someone has a family member pass away. If they have to bring anything, it’s toiletries for the homeless or my middle schoolers are all having a “feast” to celebrate something they are learning about or an elementary schooler brings in a favorite toy to share with the class.

“Twin Day” is fun for a few kids who are really into it. But it makes more kids feel rejected than included.